The field of the present invention is footrests or legrests installed on passenger seats or the like.
Many passenger seats such as those on passenger aircraft or trains have installed thereon an extendable footrest or legrest for the reclining comfort of the passenger. Typically the footrest is actuated by a controller located on the seat armrest via a mechanical cable running from the controller to the footrest. When actuated, the footrest extends from its stowed, retracted position to the extended, in use position. To return to its stowed position, the controller is actuated while pushing the footrest back to its retracted position.
One limitation of the typical footrest is that the footrest controller needs to be actuated in order to permit retraction of the footrest. If the passenger is unaware that the actuator must be operated in order to retract the footrest, there is an emergency situation, or the actuator itself fails, the passenger may attempt to forceably retract the footrest without activating the release mechanism. Such a situation may either damage the footrest or hamper the movement of the passenger.
There exist certain hydraulic actuated footrests equipped with a hydraulic controller which will retract upon application of an excessive load. Once forceably retracted, however, the hydraulic controller does not return to its extended position when the controller is actuated. The footrest must then be forced to its extended position in order to reset the hydraulic controller. The typical passenger or airline attendant may not have the knowledge or the strength to reset the footrest so the resetting is usually performed by maintenance personnel during turnover of the aircraft.